67 Summary
Dinesh Ramoo
Key Takeaways
- The growth rate in early childhood is slower than that of infancy and is accompanied by a reduced appetite between ages two and six.
- The brain is about 75 percent its adult weight by age three. By age six, it is at 95 percent its adult weight.
- Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience or damage. Neuroplasticity enables us to learn and remember new things and adjust to new experiences.
- Early childhood is the period when most children acquire the basic skills for movement, such as running, jumping, and skipping, and object control skills, such as throwing, catching, and kicking.
- Toilet training typically occurs during the first two years of early childhood. Some children show interest by age two, but others may not be ready until months later.
- During early childhood, there is wide variation in the number of hours of sleep recommended per day.
- Those in early childhood show a general reticence to try new foods, or a preference for certain foods, often served or eaten in a particular way.
- Piaget proposed a four-stage model for cognitive development. He theorized that the way children think is qualitatively different than the thought processes of adults.
- Vygotsky was one of the earliest proponents to introduce social interaction into discussions on child development.
- Vygotsky stated that children should be taught in the zone of proximal development, which occurs when they can almost perform a task, but not without assistance.
